Today on my blog, I'd like to welcome fellow crimsonista, Nancy C. Weeks!
It so good of you to visit with us today, Nancy!
Lets start with some questions! (I'm always interested in finding out about new authors!)
Why don't you start by telling my
readers a little bit about yourself?
I always choke-up when I’m asked for
a short bio. I have been a wife for thirty-one years and a mother for
twenty-five years. But I’m more than a wife and a mother. I
just can’t ever think of what that more is. LOL! I decided
before having kids that I wanted to be home with them. It went
against the norm, but I felt that one hectic career in the family was
enough. After moving back to Maryland from southern Germany, I gave
up my career and became a stay-at-home mom. The moment both my kids
were off to college, I began to write. Now I proudly call myself an
author.
What drew you to the craft of writing?
Like most authors, stories have lived
in my head all my life. I use to run my hands over book covers in
libraries and bookstores and silently say to myself, “Boy, I really
want to write one of these someday.” As soon as I had a little
quiet time on my hands, the stories demanded to be heard. Once I
wrote that first sentence, then the first paragraph, there is nothing
else I wanted to do. I was hooked. I have no idea why the need to
write is so strong. I just love it.
Are you a pantser or plotter? (some
combination of both?)
Oh, I’m a pantser and proud of it. In
each story I have written, I have had a general premise, an outline
of how I wanted to story to go. But somewhere along the way,
something magical happens that is really hard to explain. The story
takes on a life of its own. It’s like a scene from a movie in my
head. At some point, something happens totally unexpected. It doesn’t
necessarily change the direction of the story, but I can’t help
sitting back and enjoying the WOW moment―where in the heck did that
come from? The story always ends the way I plan, but the way I arrive
at the end is a real mystery. The wow moments in writing are just
magic.
When do you like to write? Mornings,
Afternoons, Middle of the Night, or somewhere in between?
I’m a
semi-early riser. If the weather is nice, I take my laptop and coffee
out on either the deck or the front porch. During the winter months,
I write at the kitchen table next to a large bay window.
While
I write every day, I don’t have amazing word counts of 5000 words a
day like a lot of my writing buddies. Instead, I write slow, revising
what I have written the day before until the scene is just right.
Some chapters can take over a week to write. I can’t move on to the
next chapter until all the previous chapters flow well; hit the right
cord of suspense and romance.
Do you have some favorite music that
inspires your writing? Do you have an author that inspires you?
I think all the authors I have read
over the years have inspired me. As for music, I can’t write
without it. For my debut novel, In the Shadow of Greed, I
listened to Jason Mraz, Mika, Norah Jones, and Adele over and over
again. Their voices brought out that heart-wrenching emotion I needed
to write not only the love scenes, but those dark moments when my
characters were at their worst. For my new release, In the Shadow
of Evil, the music completely changed to more an instrumental
flavor; Secret Garden Song from a Secret Garden, Escala Requiem for a
Tower, Yo Yo Ma The
prelude from Bach´s Cello Suite No. 1. As for my latest work in
progress, In
the Shadow of Malice,
I’m hooked on the sounds of the cello. One day I had
Pandora playing in the background while struggling with chapter two.
The Piano Guys’, The Cello Song, came on, and the scene from
that moment on practically wrote itself. I lost myself in the music.
It cleared my mind and allowed the words to just flow. It’s funny
how each book I write, a different play list develops as the story
develops.
When you're not writing, do you have a
favorite author or genre you enjoy?
It seems that when I’m not writing,
I’m cleaning, doing laundry…all those little nuisances that I
ignored while I disappeared into my writer’s cave. When I do have
time to read, I love all the romance genres. These days, I’m
thoroughly enjoying the new authors from my own publisher, Crimson
Romance. Boy, can those ladies write! It can be a little
intimidating.
Me too, there are some awesome authors writing for Crimson Romance!
What advice would you give to others in
the journey to becoming published?
Write! Revise! Write again. If you are serious about becoming a published author. accept that it's not going to be an easy road. One of my good author friends, Sharon Buchbinder gave me some great advice: Rejection is an opportunity to learn. It means I missed the mark, not that I failed.
If you take your writing seriously, learn your craft, and be willing to sometimes change the way you see your story. My one piece of advice: You will never be published if your manuscript never leaves your laptop. You have to query it out all over the place. When you receive a rejection, read it, learn from it, store it away in it's own file, and get back to writing.
Did you have a long line of submissions
before you “got the call”?
Not really. I began my first book, In
the Shadow of Evil in 2010. I wrote the second book in 2011. I spent
2012 trying to figure out the publishing ‘black hole’. I receive
my call in early February of 2013.
Where can we find you and your books?
(Blog, Twitter, Facebook, Bookstores)
Buying Links:
In the Shadow of Evil- release date 26
August 2013
In the Shadow of Greed – released 29
April 2013
Where you can find me. I love to hear
from readers!!!
What are your future plans for your
series? Are you cooking up a new one?
As I said above, I’m working on the
third book in The Shadow series, In the Shadow of Malice. Boy
am I shaking up my McNeil family with this story. I’m also
beginning the planning of the forth book which right now is just
called Mac’s story. So original, right?
Some fun stuff:
Coffee, Tea, or Something Harder?
Coffee in the morning, wine in the
early evening sitting on my deck, and margaritas anytime I can have
one with chips and hot salsa.
Now that does sound yummy!!
Cake or Ice Cream (or both)?
Cake!
What's your favorite vacation place? Or
do you like to stay close to home?
I love the ocean but my sweet hubby
doesn’t care for it. If I had an ideal place, it would be a
beautiful place on a cliff with the ocean out one window and a
wonderful forest out another with of course a deck around the entire
place. I could bring my laptop out in the morning and listen and
smell the ocean. In the afternoon, early evening, I could write while
listening to the forest. Yup, I think spending all day writing is a
vacation.
Secret desires?
Since my daughter and mother-in-law may
read this, I think I’ll keep any secret desires in my head where
they belong. LOL
Thank you so much for having on your
lovely blog. I have had a great time.
Thanks to you Nancy for stopping by and visiting!!
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